Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez on Wednesday appeared before the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police in connection with an alleged extortion case linked to conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who is currently in jail. Fernandez, a Sri Lankan national, joined the probe in the presence of Pinky Irani, who is said to be a crucial part of the case.
Who is Pinky Irani?
According to the police, Mumbai-based Irani was a close aide and friend of Chandrashekhar and introduced him to Fernandez. The Delhi Police has also summoned Irani to join the investigation as she knew both of them.
Irani became the personal shopper of Chandrashekhar and with the help of a video call (from jail), she purchased gifts for Fernandez from Christian Dior, LV, Hermès, etc. The shopping list includes — bags, shoes, watches, accessories, horse harness, saddle, and whip.
As per reports, Chandrashekhar offered Rs 10 crore to Irani for sorting out differences between Fernandez as they had a fight around Valentine’s Day. He also gave a Tiffany diamond ring to propose to Fernandez, which had J&S as its initials.
Irani took many actresses/models to Tihar Jail in Delhi to introduce them to Chandrashekhar, whose names are withheld as they are witnesses. She introduced herself to these actresses/models as “Angel”. A BMW car took these actresses/models to gate no. 3 of Tihar Jail, and further, an Innova car took them inside the jail to meet Chandrashekhar. No security check was done and no IDs were asked by the Tihar Jail security. Huge amount of cash and gifts were given to these actresses, along with Gucci bags, Versace watch, LV Bags, Frank Muller watches, etc.
These actresses/models were told to keep their head down so that the CCTV does not record their faces. Interestingly, Sanjay Chandra of Unitech and jail staff of Tihar Jail escorted these actresses to Chandrashekhar.
The ED probe also revealed that Chandrashekhar tried to influence other actresses through Irani, including Bhumi Pednekar, Sarah Ali Khan and Jhanvi Kapoor. Some of them received the gifts, while others denied. In total, Chandrashekhar had spent Rs 20 crores since 2015 on various actresses/models.
As per the probe, Chandrashekhar used to send huge amount of money to Kerala through Hawala and later payments were made for luxurious items by certain individuals in Kerala.
About Sukesh Chandrashekhar And The Case
Chandrasekhar is a native of Bengaluru in Karnataka and is believed to be in his late thirties. Aiming to lead a lavish lifestyle, he reportedly started conning people at the age of 17. After starting the forgery from Bengaluru, he moved to Chennai and in no time, he duped people in other metro cities of the country.
Chandrashekhar is accused of cheating various people and running an extortion racket worth Rs 200 crore from inside the Tihar jail. He cheated high-profile individuals such as former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh’s wife Aditi Singh. In the past, he has duped people by promising them jobs. Posing as a relative of a politician, he, reportedly, have duped more than 100 people and cheated them to the tune of Rs 75 crore.
Bollywood actor Norah Fatehi was earlier questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in the case and her statement was recorded.
On August 17, the ED filed a charge sheet naming Fernandez as an accused in a multi-crore money laundering case linked to Chandrashekhar. According to the ED, Fatehi and Fernandez received luxury cars and other expensive gifts from Chandrashekhar.
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